


For Science

by commanderwoobie



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Female Reader, I'm Bad At Tagging, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader Is Not Frisk, Slow Burn, maybe smut?, scientifically inclined reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-05-22 07:52:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6071185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commanderwoobie/pseuds/commanderwoobie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You're helping with a research clinic to study monsters and magic.  Things seem to be going pretty well.  Then you meet this skeleton dude and you're hella intrigued.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i haven't written a fic in so long and this is my first reader insert so....WE'LL SEE HOW IT GOES
> 
> also...gotta keep an eye on that goat guy >.> he might take this fic into a different direction entirely
> 
> and apologies for Sansy not showing up yet. gotta build the scene first, y'know?

One day, the monsters surfaced. And if course, it was something humans didn’t understand. And, as expected, fear was a thing. Monsters and magic weren’t supposed to be real–those were things in fairy tales, right? At least, that had been the idea.  
But no, it was all real.

The humans were scared, looking to their governments for help. Funny how it takes a group of beings who may possibly pose a threat but have yet to pose said threat to get the whole word on one side of the fence. Though, kudos had to be given to the humans–they didn’t immediately attack. The monsters were allowed to stay in the city by Mt Ebott, however military from every country was sent to keep an eye on them.

After a few years of nothing bad happening, curiosity started to overcome the fear select humans were able to travel to the city to study the monsters and their magic.  
Two of your professors were in that group. Which was perfect for you, since you only needed a few more credits to graduate–and research was one of the things you needed. The other was a simple class you could easily take online. When Alex approached you, asking if you wanted to join him and use the opportunity to satisfy your research credit, you jumped at the chance.

“You’ll basically be our assistant,” Alex explained as you helped him pack some stuff in his office. “Ask basic questions, get information, fill out paperwork–that kind of stuff.”

“Sounds good to me,” you replied, only a little disappointed. You had hoped to actually be part of the research, but hey, you were only getting your undergrad. If they needed you to ask about a monsters medical history, then so be it. At least you’d get to talk to them. That’d be pretty cool.  
It took two weeks for everything to get squared away before you, Alex, and Doctor Phelps were on the way to Ebott City. Another couple of days had the clinic set up and you were sitting at the desk, tapping a pencil against the surface as you waited for the first patient.

Still waiting.

You had resulted to doodling on scraps.

Oh, look. Now you’ve got a stick figure comic.

You were starting to think today was going to be a bust, and had even told Alex as much through text when the door opened, little bell tingling. You glanced up to see a large…goat man enter. You tapped out a quick message to Alex saying someone had come in before standing and offering the male your hand.

“Hi!” you said, smiling brightly. “My name is _____, it’s a pleasure meet you.”

The goat monster returned your smile, taking your hand in his large paw. “Good evening, _____. I am Asgore.”

You blinked. Asgore? You eyed him for a moment. He was in jeans and a purple t-shirt. “Asgore…like the king?” He wasn’t dressed like a king.

“Exactly,” he replied with a small chuckle. It took you a moment to realize you were still holding his paw and you let go. Asgore smiled at you encouragingly. “I felt it would be best if I were your first…what’s the word I’m looking for–patient?”

“Patient sounds a little better then subject, so that’s what we’re using. We actually didn’t think we were gonna have anyone come in. But now you’re here.” A nervous laugh fell from your lips. You should have practiced this. But you hadn’t expected the monster king to show up. “Um. If you wanted, we can get started? I just have to ask you some questions and get your signature.” As you spoke, you grabbed a clipboard already set up with the forms and motioned towards the small couch. Asgore was a big guy, and you didn’t think he’d fit in the armchair. He took a seat and perched yourself on the arm of the armchair next to him. You asked about any family medical history, allergies, explained the consent form. The king only asked a few questions about the latter but after you gave him satisfactory answers, he took the pen from you and signed. Once that was taken care of, you both stood and you led him back towards the examination room.

“Remember, you can always say no,” you reminded him as you opened the door. Alex was already in there and you took care of the introductions before you left them alone.

“Well, that went…all right?” You think you did pretty good for meeting your first monster.

xxxx

After Asgore came, more monsters started to trickle in. It was slow enough for both Alex and Dr Phelps to handle it, and you weren’t terribly over whelmed with paperwork. You were even able to take care of your assignments between patients.

Looked like it was gonna be a pretty easy semester.

A week and a half into your new gig and things were going pretty great. You had even befriended Asgore. The two of you were chatting–he’d just finished with Alex–when a new monster came in. You glanced up.

And immediately ducked behind the goat man, face buried in his back and shirt clutched in your fists.

He said your name, voice worried, and you felt him try to twist to look at you.

“I think I’ve frightened the poor dear,” the new monster said.

You really should apologize, and you mumbled out a sorry. “Spiders,” you explained. “I’m afraid of spiders.”

“You don’t need to worry, love. I won’t eat you.”

She seemed nice enough, so you peeked around Asgore’s body.

“My name is Muffet,” she continued, extending one of her many hands.

Fear and adrenaline say heavy in your gut, and you realized you would have to leave Asgore’s side to take her hand. You glanced up at him and he gave you a reassuring smile. As you moved around him, you felt his paw run over your hair.  
“Hello.” You could do this. “I’m _____.” You took her hand and only flinched slightly when her fingers curled around yours. “I’m guessing you’re here to help us? We don’t have any, um…arachnids yet.”

“Yes, but you must promise to come to my cafe when you have a break.”

“Yeah, sure.” You could do that. Right? Right. Simple enough. Hit up the café. “Then, um…let’s get started.”

In order to keep patient confidentiality, you had to ask Asgore to leave. He watched you for a moment before nodding and saying he’d see you later. You smiled in response and after he left, you grabbed the paperwork needed for Muffet.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit, where did all these kudos and bookmarks come from?? also, many thanks for the comments!
> 
> i'm not sure how i feel about this chapter. it wasn't flowing very well at first. anyway, as a heads up, there's two main plots to this story. the romancy one that we're totally waiting for, and then a second one involving general human/monster relations. that one will have potentially triggering things such a non-consensual experimentations. i'll have more details when we get there.

Now that they had some data to work with, Alex and Dr Phelps were busy analyzing said data.  You really didn’t want to hang out by yourself in the hotel room _again_ so you opted to conduct a little social study.  By now, a decent number of monsters recognized you, so you figured it was safe enough to go out and explore their district.

Worst case scenario is you call Asgore.

While you hadn’t yet worked up the courage to go to Muffet’s café, you’d heard good things about Grillby’s.  You slipped in, eyes darting around the establishment, taking in everything.   It was…nice.  Cozy, warm, and you really were diggin’ the color scheme.

It took a moment before you realized everyone had gotten quiet and you were the center of attention.

_Oh no_.

You glanced at the various monsters, hoping to find a familiar face.

No such luck.

Oh, God, you were such an idiot.  None of these people knew you.  How could you possibly think the number of monsters that had come to the clinic was a good chuck of the population?  You needed to get out.  Now.

In your panic, you didn’t realize someone had come in behind you and has you turned to flee, you crashed right into them and bounced off, landing right on your ass.

“Whoa, slow down there,” a deep voice said.

You barely registered it, as pain shot through your head.  You’d hit your nose on them.  And they were really hard??  What??  Tears made your vision blurry.

“Hey, kid?  You all right?”  The voice was closer this time, and you squinted at them.  Then proceeded to blink.  Brow bones shot up, and the skull cocked to the side.

“You’re a skeleton.”

“And you’re all fleshy.”  Said skeleton was crouched before you.  “So you just gonna stare or you gonna answer my question?”

“I’m—I’m fine.  I’m sorry I ran into you.  I kinda panicked.  A little.”  You scramble to your feet and move to go around him, but a skeletal hand grabs your wrist.  _Oh noooo_.  Where was Asgore when you needed him?  “Really, I’m sorry.  I—“

“Kid.  _Relax_.  You’ve got nothin’ to apologize for.  _Tibia_ honest, I wasn’t payin’ much attention.”

You stared at him.  “Was that a _pun_?”

“And if it was?”

You wracked your brain for a response, settling on “That’d be _pun_ derful.”  And immediately winced.  “Ew, that was bad.”   The other patrons had gone back about their business and you were thankful for that.  Maybe this was good.  Get back to being polite.  It was the least you could do after that little display.  “I’m _____, by the way.”

“Sans.  Sans the skeleton.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr The Skeleton.”

That earned you a laugh and the rest of the tension left your body.  Sans gently tugged on your arm, pulling you towards the bar.  He let go of your wrist and you both took a stool. A fire elemental approached and you eyed him curiously as he and Sans spoke. Well, he popped and cackled like a fire place. Sans used actual words. The skeleton moderated the introductions and you grinned at Grillby.

“It’s nice to meet you,” you said, but opted to not offer your hand–this guy was living fire. He didn’t seem to mind, though, inclining his head in return as his flames flared a little brighter. You took that as a good sign.

“Grillby here has the best burger and fries,” Sans said, rapping a knuckle in the counter to capture your attention. “So what’ll you have?”

You hadn’t seen a menu and as a result had no idea how the prices ran. You had twenty dollars in your pocket. That should be enough to cover a burger, yeah? When you had walked in, you really had only planned on a drink and a side at best, more interested in people watching than eating.

But a burger sounded real nice. You were a broke college student, mostly surviving on instant noodles and chocolate and whatever you could snag from the hotel’s complimentary breakfast bar.

You could splurge a little.

“I’ll have a burger,” you tell the bartender/owner. Sans orders the same and you take the moment to study him. He really was a skeleton, a permanent grin etched on his face. But his eye sockets seemed to have lids? And there was that whole brow cocking he could do. Either way, he was hella expressive for not having muscles and skin. You decided to chock it up to magic.

“Like what you see?”

Your face flushed and you looked away. “Sorry, I was just–”

“Nah, I get it. You’re runnin’ that clinic, right?”

“I don’t run it, but yeah.”

“You haven’t seen a live skeleton before. You’re curious.”

You had always been curious, wondering how things worked. That was part of the reason why you decided to major in biology. That and it was one of the few things that made sense to you. And these people where once just stories are _real_ and you wanted to know everything about them.

You started to ask if you could look at his hand, but the food arrived, and your stomach growled loudly. You hadn’t realized how hungry you were. Sans chuckled softly as you started digging in, taking large bites of the burger. After about half of it was gone, you actually examined it. It definitely tasted good, but the texture was different. Another bite. Yeah, it wasn’t beef. You glanced at Sans, noticing he hadn’t touched his. Maybe the fact you had basically went feral on your food had put him off. Great, now you were self conscious again.

He must have figured how you felt, though, because he shrugged. “I wasn’t all that hungry. More thirsty than anything else.” As he spoke, Sans picked up the ketchup bottle Grillby had brought and tipped it into his mouth. That may have been a mix of horror and intrigue on your face.

This guy was drinking ketchup.

Better if you focused back on your own food. Once you had finished yours, Sans pushed his towards you. “Go ahead.”

“You’re the one who’s nothing but bones,” you replied, taking it anyway. “I usually like guys with a bit more meat.” Did that really just come out of your mouth??

“Heh. You still wanna jump my bones.”

You snorted, but you were blushing. Flirting was never your strong point.

“Come on, don’t tell me you’re not curious, sweetheart.”

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

“….what?”

You blinked at him. “It’s a…human saying. Curiosity killed the cat. The second half is satisfaction brought it back. People tend to drop the second half, though.”

“Huh.” Another slug of ketchup left the bottle. “That’s a weird one.”

“Yep.” That was around a mouthful of burger. “What is this by the way? The meat? It isn’t cow.”

“Hm? Oh, it’s snail.”

Snail. You stare at him. Then the burger. You choke down the morsel in your mouth. It took a moment to figure out how you felt about it.

It _did_ taste good.

When in Rome!

With a shrug, you finished it off, pleased with your full belly.

“Do humans not eat snails?” He sounded genuinely confused.

“It’s more common in France and it’s considered a delicacy and therefore expensive.” You really hoped they weren’t expensive here.

Sans set the empty bottle down with a clunk and Grillby cackled something at him from the other end of the bar. He responded in the affirmative and you cocked a brow. His grinned widened as he slipped off the stool. “I’ll walk ya back to your hotel.”

“But the bill–”

“On my tab.”

“Oh. Thank you.” You stood as well and walked alongside the skeleton. “Wait, how did you know I’m staying at a hotel?”

“You and those other two are big news here. You want to learn about us, instead of destroy us. Can’t say that about a lot of other humans.”

“Ain’t that the truth.”

The two of you walked in silence and as you approached the hotel, you dig your keycard out of your wallet.

“Thanks,” you said as you stopped outside the door. “It was nice meeting you.”

“Yeah, nice meeting you, too. So, uh, _____. Looks like I lost my number, mind if I get yours?”

You held out your hand and Sans dropped his phone in it. A moment later, you handed it back, now that it had your contact info in it.

“Thanks, sweetheart. I’ll see ya around. I might even check out your clinic.”

“That’d be cool. We could really use you. Not sure about getting a blood sample, cuz, y'know…skeleton. But yeah, that would be really nice. I’d like to see you again, too.”

His grinned widened again and you smiled as well.

“Good night, _____.”

“Good night, Sans.”

There was an awkward beat before he backed away and walked off. You watched until he turned the corner and went inside and up to your floor. Once you were in your room, you flopped on your bed and pulled your phone out of your pocket and tapped out a quick message to Asgore.

_What can you tell me about Sans?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PUNS ARE HARD
> 
> i hope you like this chapter. we're starting to get a little plot going and Phelps is a smidge creepier than i had intended ._.
> 
> next chapter will have movie night AND muffet's cafe~  
> also, if you have any suggestions on the "text format", it would be appreciated. i wasn't entirely certain how i wanted to do it. since...reader doesn't have a name and stuff

When Muffet came in the next day for her first follow up, she seemed rather put off that you hadn’t come to the cafe yet. So you may have hastily promised to come on your next day off, which was two days from now. A smile graced her features, fangs visible, and her eyes crinkled in happiness.

“So glad to hear you’re not stingy after all. We don’t like stingy humans.”

“I promise I’ll buy whatever I can.”

“Perfect. I trust Doctor Raynes is ready for me?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll take ya back.” Once she was in Alex’s room, and you were back at your desk, you grabbed your phone. Asgore was currently out of town, dealing with monster rights and if they were to be considered legal citizens and whatnot. So you texted the only other monster you knew.

_Heeeey. So I have to go to Muffet’s on Saturday. Do you want to come with me?_

Your thumb hovered over the send button for a moment, rereading it to make sure it sounded okay. You decided to send it off as it was and waited for a response.

You had actually woken up to a text from Sans, saying he had found his number, complete with winky face. What he had been doing awake at 3am and texting you, you had no idea. Asgore had told you he worked several odd jobs, though, so maybe he had been working and was bored. Either way, you were glad he had done it.

The phone buzzed, jerking you back to the present.

_Sans:  
what do you mean have to?_

_She’s mad I haven’t come by yet because I have this thing with spiders and I could really use the moral support._

_Sans:  
sounds like you’re caught in a sticky situation_

_Ha ha. Can I bribe you with fancy ketchup?_

_Sans:  
also come over for movie night tomorrow_

You had a paper due tomorrow night. Though, you could knock it out tonight. The material was already read and annotated. You just needed to put it all together.

_Deal._

_Sans:  
I’ll come get you at 7_

After telling him that would work, you pull out your folder and start writing your paper.

xxxx

What did one even wear to movie night? Why were you even concerned about what to wear?  Though, you did kinda wanna make a good impression on Sans’ friends.

You opted for a pair of dark jeans and a cream colored long sleeve shirt.  With your black boots pulling it all together, you thought you looked pretty good.

There was a knock on the door and you glanced at the clock on the bedside table.  It was 6:45—Sans wasn’t supposed to be here for another 15 minutes.  The knock came again, more insistant this time, so you crossed to the door, looking through the peephole for a warning.

Dr Phelps.  He didn’t tend to seek you out.  This must be important.

“Hey, what’s up?” you asked once you had the door open enough for polite conversation.

His gaze took in your outfit for a moment.  “Going out?” he asked in response.

“Yeah, I’m hanging out with a few friends.  Movie night, apparently.”

“I hope you have fun,” Dr Phelps replied with a genuine smile.  “Anyway, I wanted to ask if I could borrow your key to the clinic?  Alex is out and I forgot mine there.”

“Of course!  Gimme a sec,” you said as you went back into the room proper, your former professor following behind.  You grabbed the key of the table and handed it off.

“Thank you, _____.  You’ll certainly have it back in the morning.  I stupidly left all of my notes.”

“Heh, and your key.”

“And my key!  I have _no idea_ what I was thinking when I left today.”

“Well, it is Friday.”

That earned you a laugh.  “Quite true.  Thank you again, dear.  Try not to get into too much trouble.  What would we do without our lovely assistant?”

“A lot more paperwork, probably,” you replied, ducking your head in embarrassment.

Another laugh.  “Well, I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah, see you.”  You still had a few minutes to get ready, so you closed the door behind Dr Phelps.  Welp, that got a little awkward towards the end there.

Instead of a knock on the door, your phone buzzed.  You frowned at your reflection, worried that it had been called off.  Still running your brush through your hair, you picked up your phone and checked the text.

_Sans:  
knock knock_

You texted back.

_Who’s there?_

_Sans:  
needle_

_Neddle who?_

_Sans:  
need a lil’ help through the door_

He was ridiculous, but you couldn’t help your grin.  And you really hoped he was out in the hall, or you were about to look stupid.

“You could have knocked like a normal person,” you told the skeleton on the other side of the door.

“I could have, but where’s the fun in that?”  The white pinpricks of light in his sockets flicked over you.  “You look good.  So, ready to go?”  He held out a bony hand and you took it, allowing him to lead you out into the hall.  Once you were sure the door was closed, he added “I know a shortcut, but you have to trust me.” and his left eye began to glow a brilliant blue.

You cocked your head, eyeing him curiously.  “Sure.  I trust you.”

“Then don’t let go.”

The world fell away and suddenly you were surrounded by darkness filled with every shade of color.  Silence roared in your ears and it felt like you were being crushed and stretched all at once.  Large skulls loomed in the distance, but you weren’t able to gather too many details before reality came back.

You felt ready to hurl.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”  Hands gripped your arms as you started pitching to the side.  You heard your name being called and it took you a moment for everything to catch up.

“Sans?”

“I’m here.”

“W-what was that?”

“A shortcut.”

“Through the fabric of space and time?  Did you wrinkle it?”

“More like tore a hole in it, but yeah.”  He shifted to his face was in your field of vision, concern etched on his skeletal features.  How was he so expressive??  “Still with me?”

“Yep.”

“Ready to meet the others?”

“……yep.”

He kept a hand on you in case gravity decided you needed to be closer to the ground.  You were vaguely aware of Sans leading you towards a house but before you reached the door, he caught your attention.

“You sure you’re all right?”

You frown, looking at him.  Were you all right?  “I—“  Your frown deepened.  “That was magic.  Right?”

“Yeah, it was.”

“But that wasn’t something everyone can do.”

“No.  There’s only a few of us who have that kind of power.”

Implying Sans had a special brand of magic.  Okay.  A shame you didn’t have a notebook with you.  Notes would be good right about now.

You jerked at the sound of your name.  Sans looked so very concerned.  You smiled, trying to ease whatever it was causing such an expression.  “I’m sorry.  It was…a lot to take in.  I’m fine—I promise.  I’m just trying to process what happened.”

His sockets narrowed, but he took your answer.  “I would have given you a warning, but _patella_ the truth, I was worried you would have a- _voided_ me.”

Sans was punning again.  That was a good thing.

“What, that you could bend space and time to your will?  I dunno, that’s pretty cool.”  You grinned and he relaxed completely.

“Wait till you have to go through it again,” he said as he opened to door and ushered you in.


	4. Chapter 4

You were ushered to the couch, Mettaton sitting next you. "We weren't certain what kind of movies you liked, so we acquired quite the selection if you'd like to pick one."

"Sure!"

"WE ALSO WEREN'T SURE IF YOU WERE ALLERGIC TO GLITTER LIKE FRISK, SO I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE MADE GLITTER FREE SPAGHETTI."

"Oh, um...thanks, Papyrus. I appreciate it."

"OF COURSE! ANYTHING FOR A NEW FRIEND! NYEH HEH!"

You couldn't help but smile. Papyrus was just too cute! After he had gone back into what you assumed was the kitchen, Sans flopped on the couch on your other side.

"So," he said after a moment. "This is my house."

"It's a nice house! I like it. The living room is very...living room-y." You heard Mettaton laugh softly, but ignored him. "Really, I like it. A hotel room gets boring super fast."

Sans' grin widened. "Not having a couch? I _bed_ it does."

Que one long drawn out groan from Papyrus. But before Sans could make another pun, the door burst open and in strode a tall fish lady, a short lizard, a goat lady, and...a human kid. Well, they looked to be about early teens, so not a kid exactly. The kid spotted you first and a smile lit up their face as they rushed over to you and suddenly you had a lap full of kid as they hugged you.

"Ah! I'm so excited to meet you! My name's Frisk. Wow, you have really pretty eyes. Better be careful, bonehead, or I'm gonna take her on a date. Actually, are you busy tomorrow?"

Whoa, that was a lot of words and it took you a moment to process said words.

Thankfully, Sans came to your rescue. "Too late, kiddo. _____ has a date with me tomorrow."

Frisk looked between you and Sans before draping themselves across you and Mettaton all dramatic like. "Oh cruel fate! My heart has been broken."

"Sorry, Frisk," you said, laughing softly. "Maybe next time."

"Deal! So did you pick a movie yet?"

"Oh! No, not yet." With the help of the robot star (meaning he pushed Frisk off the both you), you were freed from underneath the kid's bony butt and you got to your feet, following Frisk to the bookshelf filled with movies. There were all kinds from all decades. Westerns, drama, comedy, action, animated, horror, romance. There were even some foreign stuff, including anime. You opted for something familiar, pulling Pacific Rim off the shelf. Who didn't like giant robots fighting aliens?

"Nice!" That was Frisk. "Oh! We should finish the introductions." The kid grabbed your hand and hauled you into the kitchen. You had cast a frantic panicked look at Sans but the skeleton simply grinned. Even Mettaton looked amused. "This is Undyne, Alphys, and my mama, Toriel." Each monster got a finger pointed at them with their name, and you waved in response, but focused on Toriel.

"Asgore talks about you a lot," you said with a smile. The goat woman seemed taken aback for a moment, but smiled in return.

"Oh? And what does he say?"

"All kinds of things. How good of a cook you are, and how kind you are. I think he misses you." The following silence was heavy and you were starting to think you had overstepped but Toriel closed the distance and wrapped you in a hug.

"Thank you, my dear. He certainly needed a friend."

You hugged her back, simply nodding in return. Once she released you, Undyne slapped a hand on your shoulder. Ow.

"Nice ta meet ya, punk!"

"Same," you replied with a half hearted punch to her bicep. Seemed to be the best course of action as she laughed. Then it was Alphys' turn. She opted to wave nervously at you. You did the same.

Now that introductions were out of the way, Papyrus ushered everyone out so he could finish cooking and all of you claimed various places in the living room. Toriel took the armchair, Alphys and Undyne the love seat, you back on the couch between Sans and Mettaton, and Frisk on your lap. Apparently, you have been claimed. Everyone talked, catching up on life and you opted to listen, fingers absentmindedly combing through Frisk's hair. You really were enjoying yourself.

Frisk moved to the floor when the food was ready and everyone else tucked into the spaghetti. You eyed your plate curiously. The fact Papyrus had mentioned a "glitter free" version had you skeptical. But Frisk seemed happy, and since they were human, you figured it was safe. You took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. It wasn't bad. You had certainly had worse (your stepmother was a horrid cook) but it could use some improvement. Suddenly, you realized everyone was watching you. Oh no. Swallow quick so you can talk!

"It's good. I'm just not used to sauce without meat in it." That was true. "Is it a homemade sauce?"

"YES! DO YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT?" The tall skeleton sounded genuinely curious.

"Try adding some basil. It pairs really well with tomato. A touch of garlic, as well. I actually know a few different pasta recipes, if you wanted to try other things."

"THAT WOULD BE WONDERFUL!"

"Cool! Yeah, whenever your free. I'm sure I can work something out."

With the promise of new pasta dishes, everyone started eating again--you included. After a few more topics, the conversation turned to you.

"How is your research going?" Toriel asked.

You blinked, stared, slurped the noodles hanging from your mouth, and quickly swallowed it down. "Good. Well, complicated. Your magic throws all of our tests off. So the professors are trying to come up with new methods. That part is fun. Now, it's more trying to reconcile myth with reality. And that's been pretty interesting. Like that hippocampus? Aaron? Him and his flexing obsession kinda makes sense cuz he's from Greek mythology. And they liked their muscular dudes.

"But my particular field? Genetics? I'm having a hell of a time figuring things out. There's so many of you, and I haven't seen too many kids around and, i dunno, just seems a little awkward to be like 'hey, how do you reproduce?' And that's my life."

"I'm sure Sans can explain some things," Undyne teased and you felt your face heat up. You glanced at Sans in time to see him throw her a rude gesture. At least you assumed it was rude. The fish woman ended up howling in laughter, and everyone else joined her. Even you let out a little laugh when you heard Sans'.

After helping Papyrus quickly clean up, it was movie time. It seemed they approved of your choice since everyone else was soon absorbed in the movie. You'd seen it several times now, and could recite it line for line. Instead, you tried to study the monsters around you. Without overtly staring, of course. Though you were most interested in the skeleton brothers. How did they stay together without soft tissue? How did the joints not rub away?

You really wanted to examine Sans' hands, figuring that would be enough to figure things out.

Observations as done as they were going to get, you tuned into the movie, simply enjoying the relaxing atmosphere. However, you did end up drifting off about halfway through. You snapped awake when you heard others shifting around, getting ready to start the goodbye ritual that somehow seemed to last ridiculously long. At least there wasn't a parking lot to get caught up in. You stood off to the side, not sure of your place yet. Undyne noticed and pulled you into a bone crushing hug.

"It was great to meet ya, punk! We'll have to hang out sometime."

"Um, yeah. Yeah, I'd like that," you wheezed out.

"Undyne," Alphys said softly. "She needs to breath."

The fish monster released you, an apologetic look on her face. "Heh, sorry."

You told her it was fine, smiling, and Alphys touched your arm lightly before the couple left. Toriel gave you a gentle hug but Frisk essentially tackled you again. You were braced for it this time, though! You also promised to hang out with Frisk and once they were gone, Mettaton took your hand and kissed it. Successfully flustered, Mettaton sealed the deal with a wink and you were pretty sure your face was on fire. "Until next time."

Maybe words came out of your mouth? You weren't too sure, but the robot accepted whatever it was you had to offer and left, as well.

Just you and the skelebros.

"Is he always like that?"

"Yep."

"HE IS A STAR, AFTER ALL."

You knew you were still blushing and kinda just fidgeted with your hands. "I'm not used to attention," you finally admitted. Which sounded weird. "Like _that_ kind of attention. The-the flirty...kind of attention." You were a nerd. Nerds don't get flirty attention.

Your eyes flicked between the brothers, and you couldn't quite read their expressions. The lack of eyebrows was really throwing you off. Time to babble! "Thank you so much for inviting me. I had a great time. Even though I fell asleep but I kinda do that with my favorite movies. Yeah. Um. I can throw together a little cookbook for you, Papyrus--ow." As you were babbling, you were walking backwards towards the door and promptly got kidney punched with a door handle. You winced, rubbing at the spot while actually opening the door. You also avoided their gazes, mortified as you were, and with a mumbled bye and awkward wave you slipped out the door.

Thanks, Mettaton. And you had been doing so well, too.


End file.
